Why Black Ops 7’s Player Count Woes Is so Bad for Call of Duty’s Future

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launched in 2025 with high expectations, especially after the overwhelmingly positive response to the prior game in the series. Unfortunately, the reception to the new game was far more tepid than what Activision was hoping for. Critics were lukewarm towards the game and saw it as more of the same standard FPS gameplay, while players were seemingly unimpressed and largely moved on to other games.

This is a crushing blow to COD, which has typically been among the upper echelon of FPS franchises in previous years. It also couldn’t come at a worse time for the series, as seismic changes in the larger gaming industry might cast a greater shadow over this stumble than previous complications. Especially if the Call of Duty franchise can’t reverse course on Black Ops 7’s lackluster player retention, then the future looks bleak for the series.

Black Ops 7 Has Had A Really Poor Showing In 2025

Less than two months after debuting, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been a very lackluster showing from the once-dominant franchise — and the game’s concurrent player base speaks to the competitive nature of the industry and the poor reception to the latest COD. This is a far cry from the reception to the series in the past and concurrent player counts in the range of nearly half a million. While the Call of Duty series was able to reestablish some of its pedigree in recent years thanks to the relaunch of Modern Warfare and the success of Black Ops 6, some saw the latter game’s sliding player base as a poor portent for the future.

They were proven right with the failure of Black Ops 7 to connect with audiences, which has been very disheartening for fans of the franchise and likely the team behind it. On top of facing stiff competition from old rivals like Battlefield and new challengers like ARC Raiders, Black Ops 7‘s weak reviews, lack of single-player depth, and accusations of AI-generated content had soured the game for plenty of players. At the time of writing, the game’s concurrent player count has severely shrunk, falling to 38th on Steam’s charts, with 38,839 concurrent players.

This puts Black Ops 7 far below direct competition like ARC Raiders (which had a peak of 336,175) and Battlefield 6 (which had a peak of 85,082 players) in the same time frame. That also puts the game behind plenty of other titles like Marvel Rivals, Elden Ring, Rainbow Six Siege 6, and even VRChat. It even shed players during the holiday season, which is typically a peak playing period. Those player numbers don’t just count for Black Ops 7, but Black Ops 6 and Warzone as well, highlighting the challenge facing the entire franchise. While that doesn’t consider console player engagement, it does highlight the struggles facing the Activision series, especially in the face of stiff competition.

Why Black Ops 7’s Poor Player Connection Is Worrying For Call Of Duty

Call of Duty has long been one of the golden standards for FPS fans, dominating the genre for years with successes like Modern Warfare. However, the gaming industry has always been a volatile space, where yesterday’s hit can become tomorrow’s footnote. Call of Duty had been largely avoiding that distinction for a time, but the current market is making it harder for the game to stand out. Battlefield 6 has become the most popular realistic shooter, with an emphasis on authenticity that Black Ops 7 and its zombie modes can’t compete with — even if they are a blast to play.

Fans have also been hypercritical of the release, with review bombs dropping the game’s user score on Metacritic lower than any other entry in the series. New titles like ARC Raiders clearly captured player attention as well, drawing away prospective new players from a Call of Duty that felt too similar to previous entries to really stand out. Free-to-play shooters like Marvel Rivals and Fortnite have further eaten into that potential player base, especially among gamers who balk at the limitations of Black Ops 7 that come with a hefty price tag. While Black Ops 7 was one of the best-selling games of 2025, it’s also had significantly weaker sales than Black Ops 6 and represents a clear disconnect between the game and the intended audience.

With Activision falling under the larger Microsoft Games umbrella, the high expectations of the parent company only raise the stakes for the developers behind any game, but especially a marquee release from a major franchise. It doesn’t help that the next entry is expected to compete with GTA 6, which is expected to dominate the gaming space. Given the tough standards most AAA games are held to now, Black Ops‘s stumbles are potentially more damaging than ever, as they could end up playing a factor in whether the series keeps chugging along, gets a revamp, or is left alone altogether.